Free Web NovelChapter 27: 27: A Slap for a Slap (3)
Their laughter echoed through the quiet garden. It sounded very ugly to Jenny. She was holding her anger for her family.
Adrian shook his head. "Help your family? Jenny, your family is already finished. House Vardros is burned. Your father is dead. Your mother is dead. Your soldiers and knights are gone. Your lands will be divided by other nobles. Why should House Ravencroft help a fallen family? What will we get from helping you and your family?"
Jenny’s face trembled, but she did not step back.
"Because our fathers were allies."
"Allies when your house had value," Adrian said. "Do not confuse friendship with usefulness."
Those words hit Jenny hard. For a moment, she had nothing to say.
Adrian turned around and tried to leave with Tina.
Jenny quickly moved in front of him.
"Please stop," she said. "I really need to meet Uncle Ravencroft. If he refuses to help after hearing me, then I will accept it. But I must speak with him once."
Tina’s face darkened.
She stepped forward and cursed, "Bitch. You are still trying to get his attention."
Jenny looked at her in shock. "I am not."
"How dare you block our path?" Tina said. "A fallen family like yours does not even have the right to breathe the same air as us. Your house is gone. Your father is dead. Your engagement is dead. You should lower your head and crawl out before I lose my patience. If you kneel and beg me I will take you as my maid." freēwebnovel.com
Adrian said, "That’s a good offer for you. You should take it. It will give you and your family an earning source."
Jenny clenched her fists.
"I only want to meet Baron Ravencroft."
Tina raised her hand.
Jenny saw the movement, but she did not move away. Not because she could not dodge it, but because her mind refused to believe Tina would truly dare to hit her. Jenny was still the daughter of House Vardros. Even if her house had fallen, even if her values are less, even if she had lost almost everything in one night, some part of her still believed noble dignity had a line that others would not cross.
Tina crossed it without hesitation.
Her palm came down hard at Jenny’s cheek.
Paak!!!!
The slap landed on Jenny’s cheek with a sharp and ugly sound. Her head turned to the side from the force, and her golden hair swung across her face. The garden became silent for a moment. Even the small wind between the cypress trees seemed to stop. Jenny’s cheek burned at once, and a red handprint slowly appeared on her fair skin. Her ears rang, and her thoughts went blank for a second.
It was the first time someone had slapped her in her entire life.
Even when House Vardros had fallen, even when enemies chased her, even when traitors laughed at her, no one had struck her face like that.
Her hand slowly went to her cheek.
Her eyes started to water.
She tried to hold it back, but the shame and pain came together. She was not only hurt because of the slap. She was hurt because her family had fallen so low that a bitch like Tina Karswell dared to do this to her in another noble house’s garden.
Adrian did not stop Tina. He only watched everything.
Jenny’s eyes lowered. She felt like something inside her was about to break.
Then another slap sounded.
Paak!!!!
This slap was different.
Tina’s slap had been loud.
This one was violent.
It cracked through the garden like a whip striking stone. The sound was so sharp that even the birds on the cypress trees flew away at once. Tina did not even understand what just happened. One moment, she was standing in front of Jenny with her hand still raised. The next moment, her body flew sideways.
Her feet left the ground. Her face twisted from the impact. Her hair got scattered. Then her body slammed into the nearby tree with a heavy sound of thud.
Leaves fell from the branches.
Tina dropped to the ground beside the tree. Her left cheek was already swelling red with colour. Her eyes were wide, but her mind had not yet caught up with the pain. She looked as if someone had deleted her pride from her face and replaced it with confusion.
Jenny did not see it clearly at first. Her eyes were still down, and her hand was still on her burning cheek. But everyone else saw it.
Lucard stood beside her. His right hand was still slightly raised from the slap.
His face was calm, but his eyes were colder than the grave stones around them.
Jake stood behind Peter. He was staring at the scene with his mouth open.
Peter also stared, but he looked less shocked by the slap and more worried about what would come after it.
Adrian Ravenscroft froze on the spot.
For a few seconds, he could not speak.
Lucard slowly lowered his hand and looked at Tina, who was trying to understand why the tree had suddenly become so close to her back. Why was her body in shock?
Then he looked at Adrian. His voice was cold.
"Now the air is cleaner."
Peter said, "Master Lucard, what have you done?"
Adrian’s face changed from shock to anger.
"You... you Vardros," he said slowly. "Do you know what you have done?"
Lucard looked at him without blinking. "Yes. I cleaned a bug from your garden."
Tina finally came back to her senses. She touched her swollen cheek, then looked at the blood on her fingers. Her eyes shook for a moment. After that, anger filled her face.
"You slapped me," she screamed. "You bastard. You actually slapped me."
Lucard turned his eyes to her. "Good. Your bug memory still works."
Tina tried to stand, but her legs were weak. The slap had not only hurt her face. It had shaken her whole head. She looked at Adrian and shouted, "Kill him. Adrian, kill this mudblood dog right now."
Jenny finally raised her eyes and saw Lucard standing beside her. Her tears stopped for a moment because surprise pushed them back. She did not know when he arrived. She did not know how much he heard. But at that moment, the burning pain on her cheek felt a little less heavy.
Jake ran to Jenny and held her hand.
"Sister, are you hurt?"
Jenny touched his hair with trembling fingers. "I am fine."
Lucard looked at Adrian again.
"Now," he said, "take us to your father."
